Young LGBTQI Aussies celebrate pride with bold colour
Maeve Bannister |
Young queer Australians and allies will wear purple to their schools, universities and workplaces to promote safety, inclusivity and a world in which they can be proud to be themselves.
Wear It Purple Day on Friday encourages people to wear a purple item of clothing to support and celebrate diversity and young people from the LGBTQI community.
The annual event was founded 15 years ago in response to global stories of queer teenagers dying by suicide after experiencing bullying and harassment.
This year’s theme, “Bold Voices, Bright Futures”, encourages queer young people and allies to be loud, bold and authentic to themselves.
“When I think about allyship, I think about it needing to be obvious and visible,” Wear It Purple board president Brenna Harding told AAP.
“If you have to guess if someone is an ally, they probably are not doing it boldly or loudly enough.”
At eight years old, Ms Harding appeared on an episode of Play School with her mothers Vicki and Jackie, and remembers the huge public backlash to a lesbian couple being featured on a children’s program.
“People were saying things like it was ‘sexual’ content on children’s television,” she said.
“My mums, at most, were possibly holding hands in one shot and there was this huge negative reaction to it.”
More than 20 years later, Ms Harding said there had been progress in making Australia safer and more inclusive for LGBTQI people, such as the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2017.
“A lot has changed in my lifetime, but there is more progress to be made,” she said.
“Wear It Purple started off the back of a string of queer youth suicides and that is something we still see today, and the stats around bullying and violence have not improved in the past 15 years.”
Almost 45 per cent of LGBTQI youth experience high or very high levels of psychological distress and almost half (48 per cent) have seriously considered suicide – more than three times the rate of their heterosexual peers.
This is not due to a predisposition to poor mental health within the community but rather stigma, discrimination and a lack of acceptance, particularly from those closest to them.
LGBTQI youth are also facing a halt on gender-affirming care in Queensland and the winding back of trans and gender diverse rights and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts globally.
“While there is a lot more visibility and understanding in some places – the number of schools, universities and businesses that are celebrating Wear It Purple has grown hugely – we have a really long way to go, especially with the rise of conservatism,” Ms Harding said.
“Bright futures is exactly what we’re trying to create for LGBTQI youth in all the environments that they inhabit.”
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AAP
